COLORADO SPRINGS—On Aaron Gordon’s first day of trying out for the United States national team in the under-19 age division, he produced a moment so outrageous the folks at USA Basketball rushed to post a video record of it online, as if they wanted to assure themselves it actually happened.

Yeah, it happened.

Center Jahlil Okafor of Chicago’s Whitney Young High accepted a lead pass on the fast break from Oklahoma State All-American Marcus Smart, but a closing defender cut off Okafor’s path to the goal. Noticing Gordon on the right side being defended by Washington point guard recruit Nigel Williams-Goss, Okafor thought it might work to throw a lob pass above the rim that demanded Gordon go get it. So Okafor threw the pass impossibly high above the rim, and Gordon quite possibly defied gravity to soar well above the rim—and poor Williams-Goss—then caught the ball and dunked it in one devastating motion. This is what Gordon does.

Gordon, who will play at Arizona in the fall, is 6-8, 210 pounds. He has broad shoulders and long arms that would seem to belong to a power forward, but unless he grows another inch or two it will be difficult to play that position well at the NBA level. So he is training himself to master the skills and mindset of a perimeter player: a small forward or even a shooting guard. When everyone else had grabbed their gear and departed the Olympic training center court late Friday evening, Gordon chose to linger and work still longer on his 3-point shot.

“For my overall career, I want to be a 2/3. That’s what I want to get to: a 2/3 being able to handle the ball and posting up,” Gordon told Sporting News. “I want to be a complete player. That means every position in my arsenal.

“I can stand here and hit open shots all day long. What I need to do is figure out a way to get my shot in the shooting pocket quicker and smoother in the flow of the game. Once I get that, then I think I’m there.”

This declaration has been interpreted by some as a warning to Arizona coach Sean Miller and his staff that Gordon wants to be a small forward in college even more than he wants to be a Wildcat, or an NCAA champion. He insists something has been lost in translation.

It stands to reason Gordon should play a good bit of time at small forward because the Wildcats already have 7-0 center Kaleb Tarczewski and 6-10 power forward Brandon Ashley, who started most of last season.

But, Gordon said, “As for next year, I’m just looking to win a national title. So whatever Coach Miller wants me to play, I’ll play it.” And then Gordon issued a genuine warning: “And I’ll thrive at it.”

Gordon does not lack for confidence any more than he lacks for hops. “He has an intelligence about his confidence,” Miller told Sporting News. “He’s not wacky. He’s not out there in La-La land.”

When asked what he thinks of the common comparisons of his game to that of NBA star Blake Griffin—both are big, strong and phenomenally athletic—Gordon answers, “I think, I can play point guard and he can’t.”

Indeed.

“He’s an incredible player; he’s the No. 1 pick,” Gordon said. “I can’t be too mad if people are comparing me to a No. 1 pick. But I can play point guard.”

At the USA Basketball camp, Gordon is self-aware enough to know he was brought here as some sort of frontcourt player, and that it’s no more precise than that. He understands that if he makes the U19 out of this camp and represents the U.S. at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Prague, it will be as a “utility player.”

So when Gordon grabs a defensive rebound—and he grabbed so many in Friday night’s session the stat crew surely lost count—he resists the instinct to dribble immediately into the break. He believes the best way to get the break going is for him to push the ball himself rather wait for a point guard to retrieve it, and he showed that on occasion, but meeting the coaches’ expectations is important in a tryout setting.

“I’m not trying to step on anybody’s toes: they brought in specific point guards and two guards. So I’ll hand the ball to the guards and make the necessary passes,” Gordon said. “But I have complete confidence in myself to bring the ball up, attack the rim, anything that has to do with ballhandling.”

The funny thing about Friday’s practice is that after all the conversation about him converting to small forward, the first thing Gordon was asked to do in a scrimmage was to defend the other team’s post player: 6-8, 250-pound Robert Carter of Georgia Tech.

“Yeah, well. I figure that’s going to happen. I’m tall. I’m athletic. I’m semi-strong. So I kind of figure that I’m going to be guarding some big guys this year,” Gordon said. “I also have no doubt in my mind that I could be guarding 2s and 3s and 4s.”

In high school, Gordon said, he defended the opposing team’s best player regardless of the position that guy played, from point guard to center. In one game, that meant handling each of the Kentucky-bound Harrison twins for stretches.

“Usually when a coach gets into trouble trying to play three big guys, it’s on defense,” Miller said. “Aaron, Brandon and Kaleb have to be able to play together. I think defensively, it answers the bell. Offensively, we have to put them in position to be successful and hard to guard.”

Ashley and 6-6 incoming freshman Rondae Hollis-Jefferson also are in the USA trials, and they are among the most athletic and versatile forwards. Miller expects the Wildcats will be deep next season not because they have a lot of players, but because they have players who can do a lot of different things.

“You learn every year as a coach,” Miller said. “When you recruit a certain type of player, a special player, they have to be able to get on the court. As a coach, being creative in putting them on the court, that’s our calling.”